Old, New Friends Share Spotlight In `Disney On Ice`

The desire to remain current was evident from the opening announcement Tuesday night at ``Walt Disney`s World on Ice`` at the Chicago Stadium:

``Ladies and gentlemen, dudes and dudettes, hang onto your seats!``

But the Disney company isn`t so hard up that it had to resort to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lingo throughout the show. With such recent movie hits as ``The Little Mermaid`` and ``Who Framed Roger Rabbit,`` the company has been on a roll. If anything, the ice show confirmed not only that Disney has managed to create a new set of beloved characters for a new generation of youngsters but also that it has not let the old ones slip in stature.

The crowd of parent-accompanied tots cheered the entrance of crime-solving chipmunks Chip `n Dale, fawned over the Little Mermaid and squealed with delight as a mummy unraveled to reveal Roger Rabbit. But the biggest hand was saved for that royal cartoon couple, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who emerged amid fanfare usually reserved in this building for Michael Jordan.

The show artfully mixes mini-showcases for cartoon characters, skating routines, pop hits and Disney songs, slapstick humor and some semblance of a plot: Huey, Dewey and Louie-those cute little ducks-are singing live on the music channel DTV when their music-making time machine malfunctions and makes them go poof. Their uncle, Scrooge McDuck, and the others travel to various times and places to search for them.

They go to ancient Egypt, to the tunes of ``Midnight at the Oasis`` and

``Walk Like an Egyptian.`` They encounter Baloo, the cheery pear-shaped bear, in the jungle. And they run afoul of ``Little Mermaid`` witch Ursula, who damages the time machine with her billowing purple-and-black tentacles that hover over much of the ice.

The dialogue is often garbled-though there`s no mistaking Roger Rabbit`s

``plplpleeeeze!``-but the visuals are what count. The skating ranges from solo turns to graceful pairs who jump through rotating flaming hoops.

But the highlight is a pratfall-filled faceoff between Roger Rabbit and his detective friend, Eddie Valiant (Park Ridge native Jimmie Santee, who doubles as the show`s disc jockey/host). Santee, with suspenders holding his ample pants at chest level, invests all his skating skill in tumbling over a desk, off a bench and through a window to land as clumsily, seemingly painfully, and thus hilariously as possible. The kids howled with delight, and afterward, Roger Rabbit led them in the Arsenio Hall fist-pumping ``Woof, woof!``

The show benefits from dazzling design, accenting oranges and pinks. As fluorescent spheres descended from the ceiling during a space scene illuminated by black light, one boy asked his neighbor, ``Are those real balloons or illusions?``